minutes after the hour. mitt romney is hoping a bus tour gets his presidential campaign back on track. the republican presidential nominee will visit ohio and virginia on the tour. both states are key to his white house hopes. romney campaigned in another battleground state yesterday, colorado. romney has slipped in recent polls. he trails president obama in colorado, iowa, and wisconsin. in the latest nbc news/wall street journal/marist poll. >>> today president obama will travel to new york city to take part in the week long general assembly of the united nations. he is one of more than 100 heads of state converging on the city. leaders started arriving yesterday, including iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad. iran's nuclear ambitions are expected to be one of the hot topics of the week long meeting. the rise of al qaeda in west africa and the problems in syria will also be discussed. president obama plans to speak before the assembly tomorrow. >>> and secretary of state hillary clinton will be spending her time between the u.n. and the annual meeting of the clinton global initiat

tomorrow morning. mitt romney will be in our area. he has a rally planned at american legion post 176 in springfield. tomorrow's events come two days after vice president joe biden held a campaign event in chesterfield county, virginia. >>> today both candidates will be in another battleground state, ohio. mitt romney will continue his bus tour through the buckeye state. the president will speak at two ohio colleges, bowling green university and kent state. the latest poll shows obama with a sizable lead in ohio. he leads by eight points among likely voters. the president holds a smaller lead in the key state of florida. he's ahead by four points among likely voters and nine points by registered voters. romney's campaign is downplaying these numbers. they say they trust their own polling. >>> this morning an expected vote on a potential rate hike for pepco. last night dozens of customers upset about the possible hike staged a protest at headquarters in downtown d.c. if approved, the plan would increase bills by $5 a month in maryland. pepco also expected to vote itself on a contra

. >> absolutely. thank you, danella. >>> mitt romney will focus on foreign policy today. he'll speak by phone with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. this comes after netanyahu urged the general assembly to draw a red line to stop iran from having a nuclear weapon. the white house reiterated its commitment to preventing iran from building a nuclear bomb. romney says he stands by yet an ya hue on this issue. romney appears to have ground to make up in states that could make up this year's election. he trails the president in new hampshire. that's according to the latest nbc news/"the wall street journal" marist poll. they're also locked in a tight race in the battleground states of nevada and north carolina. the president leads his republican rival by seven points in new hampshire. he's ahead of north carolina by 2%. that's within the poll's margin of error, which is 3.1%. >>> and romney also trails in recent polls in virginia. the gop presidential nominee met with veterans and their families in springfield. he hopes next week's first presidential debate will give him some momentum goi

discuss violent i shaseve issues, including violent protests in egypt. >>> mitt romney says the president was downplaying the violence when he described the protests as road bumps on the path to peace in the region. >> these are not bumps in the road. these are human lives. these are developments we do not want to see. this is time for the president, who will shape events in the middle east, not just be merciful or be at the mercy of events in the middle east. >> romney will campaign today and tomorrow in ohio. >>> democrats are turning their attention to a different battleground state this week, virginia. vice president joe biden will campaign in the commonwealth today. he'll be in chesterfield county right outside richmond. president obama will visit virginia beach on thursday. he holds a slight lead over mitt romney in most recent polls in virginia. >>> 5:04. a fauquier county high school is remembering a popular student-athlete killed in a car crash on his way to school. family and friends held a roadside vigil for 16-year-old ian heflin last night. he died yesterday morning

victories in 21 states and washington, d.c. mitt romney would win 23 states, which would net him 206 electoral votes. to win, the republican presidential nominee would have to win six swing states, which are still up for grabs. he'd also need president obama to lose in ohio or iowa. the ap has him winning both states right now. also right now, president obama is in nevada preparing for wednesday night's first debate. senator john kerry is playing the role of mitt romney in the debate preps. the president many ka pacampaig night in las vegas. he asked supporters at this virginia high school to keep believing in him. the president does not have any events scheduled for today so he can focus on preparing for wednesday night. mitt romney is hoping the debate gives the presidential nominee a much needed boost. a supporter calls wednesday night the restart of this campaign. romney will hold a rally tonight in denver where the debate will take place. >>> nationals get another shot to clinch a division title today. this time they'll be able to do it in front of the d.c. faithful. the nats co